Welcome to the 2019 MidSchoolMath National Conference! #MidSchoolMath2019

Looking for Session Handouts? Check out the Conference Dropbox at http://bit.ly/MidSchoolMath2019! Additional materials will be added as they are provided.

Thank you for joining us in Santa Fe for our 6th Annual Conference! If you selected your sessions prior to Sunday, 2/24, a print copy of your personalized schedule will be provided in your attendee packet. You’ll also get a daily agenda email from SCHED!

As a reminder, helpful information about traveling to Santa Fe, including airport shuttle services, featured hotels, getting around town, restaurants, and more can be found here.

After the Conference, please take a moment to provide session feedback using SCHED! Thank you!

Limited CapacityfullAdding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Video game designers have discovered exactly how to encourage productive struggle. In this session, we'll explore five key design principles from video games that you can use immediately to make math irresistible. And, you'll participate in interactive activities where you will see exactly how to apply these principles to promote growth mindset, spark curiosity, and create a culture of perseverance.

The principles explored include:1 - Agency (give students some control)2 - Progressive challenge (start easy to engage all learners, then increase demand)3 - Making failure an expectation (in video games, you just start over after 'failing')4 - Provide descriptive feedback (explain exactly what the student is doing well) 5 - Don't give answers (video games never give away the answers)

You'll experience exactly how these principles can be applied to mathematics first-hand as they tackle three challenging problems in the session. We'll also spend time on how to encourage students to voluntarily participate in problem solving. I address this by sharing several proven techniques that spark student curiosity. This enables teachers to take existing problems and tweak them to promote engagement in their classrooms.

Dr. Shah is a life-long math enthusiast who earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois. After working nine years at Intel, Dr. Shah quit his job in 2008 to pursue his passion of introducing kids to the wonder of mathematics and teaching them to think rather than just... Read More →

WHAT WILL ATTENDEES GAIN? Teachers will leave with simple, practical tips that they can implement right away to increase student curiosity and create a culture where students naturally want to persevere on challenging problems.

BEYOND "STAND & DELIVER" Engage in problem solving and see exactly how the techniques and strategies I share are implemented in a 'classroom' setting.